An Animorphs Thanksgiving
by Liaranne
Summary: The Animorphs and their families give thanks in the Hork-Bajir valley. Slight Jake angst, which is unusual for me as I try to avoid angst. Erm, I don't entirely like all of the story, so it might be edited later on.


An Animorphs Thanksgiving.  
  
By Liaranne  
  
Summary: The Animorphs and their families give thanks in the Hork-Bajir valley. Sorry it wasn't up sooner, I got the idea a few days ago, but I just finished it. Slight Jake angst.  
  
A/N: This is a one-shot. My second one-shot ever. Some people might be slightly out of character, but those are mainly the ones we haven't heard from as often in the series. (Like Jordan and Sara, or Cassie's parents.) Please review and tell me what you thought of it.  
  
***  
  
This was it. All the preparation. All the food smuggled into the valley with the help of Erek. All the cooking, baking even, that we helped with. All the explaining to the Hork Bajir what this was about. It was Dad's idea, really, he said that we needed a Thanksgiving. And I was surprised to see that Marco's mom knew how to bake bread in the wilderness.  
  
And now, it smelled heavenly. The Hork Bajir had felled a large tree, split it in two, and made it into a long table. And the log benches weren't that bad. They even got their own feast together, with different kinds of bark. It smelled so good. I wanted to dig in right then. Rachel's sister Jordan reached for a piece of cornbread.  
  
"Wait a minute, we have to do it right," said Dad, "We have to give thanks first."  
  
The Hork Bajir looked a bit puzzled, so I explained to them, "We say what we are most thankful for. It's why we have the feast." Toby got it, at least, and after a few minutes, they understood.  
  
"Who'll start?" asked Rachel, sitting with her family.  
  
"Let Cassie's Dad, it was his idea," said Marco's mom, towards the other end. "Then we can just go around the table."  
  
"Ok, fine, I'll start," Dad said, bowing his head, "Dear Lord, on the day of this great feast, we thank you for our lives, our families, and our friends. We hope -"  
  
"Can we move on? You just need to say one," said Jordan.  
  
"Fine. Go ahead, dear," he replied to mom, sitting at his side.  
  
"Lord, thank you for this grand feast for us to share with each other. And thank you that I won't have to watch football with Walter," said Mom. Everyone chuckled at that.  
  
Sara, Rachel's other sister, was next. "I thank you for a doll for Christmas," she said.  
  
"Honey, you didn't get a doll last Christmas," said her mother.  
  
"I know. I want one this year." More laughter.  
  
Next, it was Naomi's turn. Rachel's mom. "I give thanks that my family is safe, and hope that we may live in peace soon," she said.  
  
We got to Marco's parents, seated next to one another. "Me?" asked his Dad, "Well, I'm thankful I got my family back, safe and sound. Your turn, honey bunch."  
  
I noted Jordan fake-gagging beside me and kicked her.  
  
"I'm thankful for my freedom," said Eva, though she told me later she wanted to say, "I'm thankful the slug died." I don't think I really blame her.  
  
Tobias's mom, Lauren, smiled at him while rubbing Champ's head and said, "I'm thankful for my sight back, and the chance to know my son."  
  
The Hork-Bajir were next. "Jara? Ket? What are you thankful for?" I asked. The couple were right after Marco's parents.  
  
"Jara Hamee thankful for freedom."  
  
"Ket Halpak thankful for freedom too, and bark," they replied. "Earth bark good," Ket added, as an afterthought.  
  
The Hork-Bajir continued, basically saying either freedom or bark. Toby was at the end.  
  
"I am thankful for freedom too. And the chance that all our peoples will be free some day."  
  
Tobias was seated next to his namesake. "Well, I'm thankful for all of you, my family and friends. I hope . I hope we'll be together next year at this time."  
  
Marco was next, "I don't know. I guess I'm just glad to be alive, considering all the insane things that have happened."  
  
"Yeah, Marco, and I bet you're thankful for your mommy and daddy being here, too?" Rachel teased.  
  
"Shut up, Xena. I bet your glad your bird boy's here, huh?"  
  
"You guys, that's enough. Can we move on, please?" I asked.  
  
"All right, all right. I'm thankful for the chance to fight the Yeerks so we can get out of here," said Rachel. She prodded Jordan, "Your turn."  
  
"I'm thankful for the food. There. Can we eat now?" she replied.  
  
"Not yet, Cassie and Jake have to go!" said Rachel.  
  
"Hmmm," I said, thinking, "I'm thankful not to be living a lie anymore. Jake?" I asked. Jake was last.  
  
"Me? I don't know. I'm not thankful for anything," he replied.  
  
"Come on, Jake, I'm sure your thankful for something," my mom replied.  
  
"No, I don't think I am. Excuse me," he said and started to walk away. *  
  
I started to get up and go after him.  
  
"Honey, wait," my dad said, "Let him go. He'll come back. Sit down."  
  
"Can we eat now?" Jordan asked.  
  
"Sure, go ahead and eat, Jordan," I said.  
  
I watched Jake go into the trees. I didn't eat a thing of my Thanksgiving dinner.  
  
***  
  
*Alternate response:  
  
"Yeah, I guess I am. I'm thankful for the chance to free them," he said, and started to walk away.  
  
***  
  
Like it? Hate it? Please review and tell me what you thought. I couldn't decide which sentence to put in, so I put in both. 


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